Public Parks. 19 



PARKS AND PUBLIC GROUNDS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



We have, however, no finished parks in the United States, and it 

 is only within recent date that much attention has been paid to this 

 subject. It is true that there is scarcely a town that does not have its 

 square or promenade, but in its European signification there are but 

 few that desei-ve that appellation. Although there is probably not a 

 village, town, or embryo city laid out that does not devote a portion 

 of it for public uses, still the importance of such resorts and their 

 proper improvement is not thoroughly appreciated. This, no doubt, 

 arises from various causes ; among them, in cei^tain sections, the 

 sparseness of population and the absence of wealth and the active 

 life led by a majority of our people, who take comparatively no time 

 for recreation or pleasure, little dreaming of the expenditure of 

 mental and physical force incident to such a life, and the premature 

 decay which inevitably follows ; also, the false utilitarian views taken 

 by many of the subject. 



BOSTON AND NKW ENGLAND. 



The " Common," so long the boast and delight of Boston, is a 

 small park of forty-eight acres of ground, of an undulating character, 

 surrounded by an iron railing, in which are found about 1,300 trees, 

 nearly all of them having been planted. It dates to 1634, and by a 

 clause in the city charter it is made public property forever, and 

 cannot be sold or exchanged. There are many walks in it, laid out 

 more with a view of communicating with entrances from all direc- 

 tions, than any attempt at the picuresque. The walks are spacious, 

 shaded by magnificent trees over a century old ; the one on Beacon 

 street being particularly unique and pleasant. The pviblic garden, 

 which was once a portion of the Common, is now separated from it 

 by Charles street, and will soon rival it for beauty and usefulness. 



Throughout the New England States the public grounds of many 

 of the towns are planted with trees without much arrangement or 

 order, showing chiefly the beauty and value which the trees acquire 

 by age. This is particularly the case with Cambridge, New Haven, 

 Springfield, Portland, Hartford and Northampton ; in fact, the prin- 

 cipal charin of many of the villages is the trees that line the streets. 

 Among the most striking may be mentioned Hadley, Deerfield and 

 Norwich. 



The many noble elms that are found in the public grounds and 

 streets of New Haven, which were planted mainly through the 



